I have waited a while to post this thread because I am afraid of the answer I might get. I replaced the hood on my 72 Cutlass many years ago due to a minor collision that damaged the hood. There is very little warping of the metal frame, but, as you can see in the photos, the fiberglass took the worst of it. Based on these pictures, do any of you think there would be any hope of salvaging this hood?

 

I've seen bumpers fixed in worse shape find a good body guy and see what they say

It's just fiberglass the metal frame looks intacked

 

Yes the metal can be fixed. The cost of having the fiberglass repaired however would be labor intensive and might not be worth it. It can't hurt to get a few quotes. They probably will be all over the place.

 

Take it to someone that does body work on corvettes or boats. It's not that hard to fix, and it is obviously only constructed of fiberglass Matt. If you can't find someone nearby that will fix it for six or eight hundred, sell it on e-bay, there are plenty of people with basic experience using Matt, Resin, and Hardener that will repair it like it never happened. One important factor is that it appears you have all the pieces. New Matt is the bandage, Resin and Hardener is the glue. - Steven

 

I sure would do it. The one on my Vista was pretty beat up & it looks pretty nice now. I have 2 or 3 hoods in worse shape than yours & won't throw them away.
Since the frame & chicken wire all look so good, that would entice me even more. Figure you would have $500.00-$800.00 in it maybe? Hard to find a nice original hood for that price right?

 

It is the original hood. At the time, I was told it couldn't be repaired, but I held on to it in case it was just a matter of throwing enough money at it. The Thornton's hood I replaced it with is identical, but I really want the original back on it.

 

You might want to call Thornton and ask if they would be willing to sell you just the fibreglass upper they make for their hoods?

 

If that were an option, couldn't I just have the fiberglass shell removed from the hood I have and use it? Of course, at that point, it would probably be easier to just be satisfied with what I have now. I am hoping enough guys tell me that it can be repaired so I can look forward to having it fixed after the first of the year.

 

It depends on how much you want to spend on it.Get estimates.

 

If it was mine I'd fix it.

 

When you think about it , it probably would be Cheaper to fix yours. The value is there.

 

Since it is the original hood, I definitely want to get it fixed and so far, no one has said that it looks to be damaged beyond repair (which I was afraid of). I appreciate everybody's input and will start looking for a good body shop that will do the work. Thanks again!

 

teqdave: What color is that on your '72? It looks like '71 Kashmir Copper. We're considering options for our '71 and that's one of the colors that we're thinking about.

 

Bill,

The original color was Saddle Bronze. I had it painted 30 years ago and they supposedly used the exact same color. I had just the hood painted about 7 years ago and I think they were only able to get a close match. It seems that I recall the Saddle Bronze being a little bit more brownish copper. The "new" color looks more like shiny copper. Good luck with your restoration!

David